Overview

There are millions of criminals on the Internet and billions of potential victims. You have probably not been attacked or compromised and if so, it is due to the numbers – probably not your personal security habits.

I have a passion for cyber security. Effective cyber security is a system problem with no easy or obvious solutions, and the current state of the art leaves plenty of room for improvement. I also think that every person who uses the Internet should have a practical understanding of the risks and what reasonable steps they should take to protect themselves.

For these reasons, any conversation I am in tends toward cyber security, and I occasionally am asked what my recommendations are for personal cyber security. When not asked, I usually end up sharing my opinions anyway. My answer generally is qualified by the complexity of defending against the threats that are more ‘real’, but for most people we can make some generalizations.

The list below is what I think makes the most sense at this time. Like all guidance of this nature, the shelf life of this may be short. Before we can look at actionable recommendations, we need to really look at the threats we face. The foundation for any effective security recommendation must be to look at your threat space.

Threats – These are realistic and plausible threats to your online accounts and data, in which you have realistic and plausible mitigation.

Cyber Criminals – Criminals who are trying to monetize whatever they can from people on the Internet. There are so many ways this can be accomplished, but in most cases it involves getting access to your online accounts or installing malware to your computer. This threat represents 99.5% of the entire threat space most users have (note – this is a made up number, but is probably not too far off).

Theft or Loss – Criminals who steal your computers or phone for the device itself. If they happen to gain access to personal information on the device that enables extortion or other criminal access to your online accounts, that is a secondary goal. This threat represents 90% of the remaining threat space (so 90% of 0.5%) for laptops and smartphones (note – this number is also made up, with the same caveats).

Computer Service Criminals – Anytime you take a phone / computer in for service, there is a risk that somebody copies off more interesting information for personal gain. It really does happen – search “geek squad crime” for details.

Non-Threats – These are threats that are less likely, less plausible or simply unrealistic to defend against.

NSA / FBI / CIA / KGB / GRU / PLA61398– Not withstanding the current issue between FBI vs Apple (which is not really about technical capability but about legal precedent), big govt Agencies (BGAs) have massive resources and money that they can bring to bear if you draw their attention. So my recommendation is that if you draw the attention of one or more BGAs, get a lawyer and spend some time questioning the personal choices that got you where you are.

In order to effectively apply security controls to these threats, it is critical to understand what threat each of these controls protects against with some quantifiable understanding of relatively risk. In other words – it is more effective to protect against the threat that is most likely.

Of the threats identified above, we identified online threats, device theft threats and computer service threats. For most people, the total number of times a computer / smart phone has been serviced or stolen can be counted on one hand. Comparatively, your online accounts are online and available 365 x 24 (that’s 8766 hours/year that you are exposed), and accessible by any criminal in the world with Internet access. Simple math should show you that protecting yourself online is at least 100x more critical than any other threat identified above.

Threat Vectors

In order to determine the most effective security controls for the given threats, it is important to understand what the threat vectors for each threat are. Threat vectors define the “how systems are attacked” for a given threat. Fortunately for the threats identified above, the vectors are fairly simple.

In reverse order:

Computer Service Threat: As part of the service process, you (the system owner) provides the device username and password so that the service people can access the operating system. This also happens to give these same service people fairly unlimited access to the personal files and data on the system, which they have been know to harvest for their personal gain. Keeping files of this nature in a secure container can reduce this threat.

Theft or Loss: In recent years criminals have discovered that the information on a computer / phone may be worth much more than the physical device itself. In most cases, stolen computers and phones are harvested for whatever personal information can be monetized and then are sold to a hardware broker. If your system is not encrypted, all of the information on the system is accessible even if you have a complex password. Encryption of the system is really the only protection from this threat.

Cyber Criminals: This is the most complex of the threats, since there are always at least two paths to the information they are looking for. Remember that the goal of this threat is to compromise your online accounts, which means that they can target the accounts directly on the Internet. However, most online Internet companies are fairly good at detecting and blocking direct attacks of this nature. So the next most direct path is to compromise a device with malware and harvest the information from this less protected device. The nature of this vector means this is also the most complex to protect. The use of Firewalls, Anti-Virus/Anti-Malware, Ad-Blockers, more secure browsers, secure password containers, and two factor authentication all contribute to blocking this attack vector. This layering of security tools (controls) is also called “defense in depth”.

Actionable Recommendations [ranked]

Google: Everybody (maybe not you) has a Google account, and in many cases it is your primary email account. As a primary email account it is the target account for resetting your password for most other accounts. It is the one account to rule them all for your online world, and it needs to be secured appropriately. Use Google Authenticator on your smart phone for 2FA.

Amazon: In the global first world, this is the most likely online shopping account everybody (once again – maybe not you) has. It also supports Google Authenticator for 2FA.

PayPal: PayPal uses the SMS code as a 2nd authentication factor. It is not as convenient as Google Authenticator, but is better that 1FA.

Device Integration: Apple, Google and Microsoft are increasingly integrating devices in their product ecosystems into their online systems. This increases the capabilities of these devices, and it also increases the online exposure of your accounts.

Microsoft Online: Enable 2FA. Microsoft unfortunately does not integrate with Google Authenticator, but does provide their own authentication app for your smart phone.

Apple ITunes: Require Authentication for any purchases and Enable 2FA.

Google Play: Require Authentication for any purchases.

Banks, Credit Unions and Credit Accounts – These groups are doing their own thing for 2FA. If your banks, credit unions or credit accounts do not have some form of 2FA, contact them and request it. Or move your account.

Password Manager: Use one, and offline is better than online. Remember putting it in the cloud is just somebody else’s computer (and may represent more risk than local storage). I personally recommend KeePass since it is open source, supports many platforms, is actively supported and free.

Never store credit card info online: There are many online service providers that insist each month that they really want to store my credit card information in their systems (I am talking to you Comcast and Verizon), and I have to uncheck the save info box every time. At some point in the past, I asked a few of these service providers (via customer service) if agreeing to store my information on their servers meant that they assumed full liability for any and all damages if they were compromised. The lack of any response indicated to me that the answer is “probably not”. So if they are not willing to take responsibility for that potential outcome, I don’t consider it reasonable to leave credit card information in their system.

Encrypt your SmartPhone: Smart phones are becoming the ultimate repository of personal information that can be used to steal your identity / money, and nearly all smart phones have provisions for encryption and password / PIN access. Use them. They really do work and are effective. It is interesting to note that most PIN codes are 4 to 6 digits, and most patterns (when reduced to bits) are comparable to 4 digit (or less) codes.

Encrypt your Laptop: Your second most portable device is also the second most likely to be stolen or lost. If you have a Windows laptop, use BitLocker for system encryption. It is well integrated and provides some decent level of data security. In addition I would also recommend installing VeraCrypt. VeraCrypt is the more open source, next generation of TrueCrypt. For that extra level of assurance, you can create a secure container on your device or removable drive to store data requiring greater security / privacy.

Password protect Chrome profile: I personally save usernames and passwords in my Chrome profile purely for the convenience. This allows me to go to any of my systems, and login easily to some of my regular sites. It also means that my profile represents a tremendous security exposure. So I sync everything and secure / encrypt it with a passphrase. Chrome offers the option to secure / encrypt with Google Account credentials, but I chose to use a separate passphrase to create a small barrier between my Google account and my Chrome sync data.

Ad Blocker Plus/ AntiVirus/Firewall/Chrome: Malware is the most likely path to having your computer compromised. This can happen through phishing emails, or through a website or popup ads. Browsers are more effective at stopping malware than they used to be, and Chrome updates silently and continuously, decreasing your exposure risk. Chrome isthe browser I recommend. In addition, I use the Ad Blocker Plus plugin in Chrome. Lastly, I am using Windows 10, so I keep Windows Defender fully enabled and updated. Pick your favorite anti-virus / anti-malware product, Defender just happens to be included and and does not result in a self inflicted Denial of Service (McAfee anyone?).

Use PayPal (or equivalent) when possible: PayPal (and some other credit providers) manage purchases more securely online by doing one time transactions for purchases rather than simply passing on your credit credentials. This limits the seller to the actual purchase, and greatly reduces the risk that your card can be compromised.

(Least Critical) VPN: If you have a portable device and use forms of public Wi-Fi, there is a risk that your information could be harvested as part of that first hop to the Internet. VPNs will not make you anonymous, VPNs are not TOR, but an always on VPN can provide you some security for this first hop. I use an always on VPN that I was able to get for $25 / 5 years. It may not provide the most advanced / best security / privacy features available, but it is probably good enough for realistic threats.

Additional Notes

For those who are curious, there are some security tools that purport to provide security against the big government Agencies. However, it is important to note that even if these tools are compromised by these Agencies, it is very unlikely that they would admit it since it is more useful to have people believe they are being protected by these tools.

VeraCrypt: Provides standalone encryption capability for files and storage devices that is nearly unbreakable. Like any encryption, the real weakness is the key and how you manage it.

KeePass: Uses standalone encryption for passwords and other credential information. Once again, it is only as good as the password credentials you use.

Signal / Private Call by Open Whisper: Secure messaging and voice call apps for your smart phone. The usefulness of these is directly related to who you are chatting with / talking with since both parties involved have to buy into to the additional effort to communicate securely.

Bottom Line

Security should do many things, but the most important elements for practical security are:

It should protect against real threats in an effective manner. The corollary: It should not protect against imaginary / non-existent threats.

It should be as transparent / invisible / easy to use as possible.

It should be good enough that you are an obviously harder target than the rest of the herd (e.g There is no need to be faster than the bear chasing you, just faster than the guy next to you).

Remember – The most effective security is the security that is used.

Note – I apologize for my lack of tools for Apple platforms, but since I do not own one it is much more difficult to research / use.